Caleb Williams Injury Update From Ben Johnson Offers Hope For Bears QB's Week 3 Status

Now that we know the Chicago Bears dodged a bullet after the injury to quarterback Caleb Williams, we're now wondering if there's any chance Williams will play in Week 3.

A report from The Ringer's Tom Pelissero earlier in the day left the door open for that to happen. However, head coach Ben Johnson labeled Williams as week-to-week and said he would likely miss time.

"Bears QB Caleb Williams avoided any major injury to his hamstring Sunday, tests confirmed today — and the team isn’t even ruling him out for next Monday’s game against the Eagles," Pelissero reported.

"It sounds like it's gonna be a week-to-week deal," Johnson said on ESPN Chicago, before adding that Williams "will likely miss some time."

Ben Johnson offers hope for Caleb Williams

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. — Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) is helped off the field with an apparent injury against the Minnesota Vikings during the second half at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Another bad sign for Williams' potential availability is the fact that the Bears head coach told reporters on Monday afternoon that he does not expect Williams to practice at all this week.

"I don't believe he will," Johnson said, per CHGO Bears.

Johnson then reiterated that he doesn't have a timeline for Williams right now and that he's officially week-to-week, but he added that Williams isn't "the average human being" and could recover quicker than expected.

"He's right now working through every avenue that he's got available to get back on track here," Johnson added, per ESPN's Courtney Cronin. "We'll see what that looks like. Here's what I know. This guy's a little bit different than the average human being. I said that last night, I'll double down on that. He gets back - he has in the past - a lot faster than what people can anticipate and so I'm not putting a timeline on this. We’re going to say week to week. He's going to attack this with everything that he knows."

Johnson has us going in a few different directions here. The practice news doesn't bode well for his chances of playing, but Johnson noting how the Bears signal-caller can recover quicker than most people offers hope.

What we do know is that Williams could probably play without practicing, so the lack of participation this week might not cancel him out for Week 3.

What is Caleb Williams' exact injury?

The other mystery in all of this is we don't know the exact injury that Williams suffered, as the team has not made that public, and Pelissero's report didn't include that information, either. We know it's a hamstring, but that's it.

The only semblance of a hint came from Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, who noted that Williams might have as little as a Grade 1 hamstring strain, something he reported on Sunday night.

"It looked bad, but I'm told there is optimism that it is not a severe injury. It could be as slight as a grade 1 [hamstring strain]. That's the lowest level hamstring injury, but they'll know more tomorrow when they do the MRI," Florio said. "I'm told Williams is in good spirits to attack the recovery, whatever it may be."

A Grade 1 strain would give Williams a return timetable of about one to three weeks, which lines up with the week-to-week label Johnson is giving.

What Williams does have working in his favor for his chances of playing in Week 3 is the fact that the Bears play on Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles, so he has an extra day's rest.

We will also have to wait an extra day for the first injury report, as that won't be coming down until Thursday this week given the primetime contest for Chicago.

Whatever the case may be, the simple fact that Williams avoided a serious injury is the biggest news here. We can live with him missing a game or two if necessary after initially fearing the worst when he went down on Sunday.

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